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Learn How to Protect Your Firm from a Security Breach

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Online Resources, Security, Technology 1 Comment

Did you know that 29% of law firms experienced a security breach in 2020? 🎯 🔐

And that is up from 26% in 2019. 🆙

*source: ABA 2020 Legal Technology Survey Report

I have always thought it likely that this stat is low – in many firms, especially large firms, attorneys may never learn of a breach unless it becomes public.

PLUS…

This is borne out by 21% of respondents reporting that they do not know whether their firm has ever experienced a security breach. (hence the numbers are likely higher)

So what does that mean for you? 🧐

Well… if you’re still reading this, it means that you gotta get GOOD at securing your practice… and fast.

If you don’t know how to secure your data and reduce your risk of a data breach…nothing else matters.

Because if you experience a data breach and have to notify the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, State Bar, Attorney General, etc. of the incident AND every single person in your contact list.

People like your prospective, current and past clients, colleagues, judges, opposing counsel … etc.

Nothing else matters.

The reputational damage of a data breach is monumental.

Your current and future clients are not going to trust you with their sensitive information and therefore you won’t be able to help them.

And once you’ve been the victim of a data breach … then what?

It is too late.

That’s exactly what my friend Tom Lambotte is going to be diving into during his FREE Security Class coming up soon.

It’s called “The 7 Cybersecurity Threats That Could Endanger Your Law Firm In 2021 … And How To Prevent Them” (use the link below to register).

He’s giving away the best security secrets he’s learned from being in the trenches with the top small law firms and helping hundreds of lawyers identify and implement the best security solutions to reduce their risk of suffering a data breach.

There’s a simpler way to learn today’s most pressing security risks… and he’s going to reveal the 7 key threats you need to protect your law practice!

You can click HERE to register.

*This class is free but has limited seats.

Free Webinar – The 7 Cybersecurity Threats That Could Endanger Your Law Firm In 2021 …And How To Prevent Them

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Online Resources, Security, Technology

Do you ever struggle with how much and what kind of security measures do you need for your law practice? Especially as a solo or a small law firm? 🤔

If you struggle with this, you’re not alone.

Keeping up to date and having the adequate security measures in place to protect your practice isn’t easy—even for the seasoned pros.

It can feel overwhelming and never-ending with the amount of security decisions that need to be properly addressed, including:

VPN
Phishing
Passwords
Cyber insurance
Malware & adware
Dark web monitoring
2 Factor Authentication
Security and software updates
Human error and employee carelessness
and the list goes on!

And on top of researching, selecting and choosing you may be wondering if you’re even set everything up correctly.

If you want to grow a thriving law practice, you need to know how to implement proper security measures – the ‘security insurance’ – to ensure you don’t experience a data breach and risk running your reputation.

Because here’s the truth…

✨ you can’t change lives if you can’t even get the people you want to serve to trust you with their sensitive information in the first place ✨

But proper security measures can not only protect you, but can set you apart from your peers and be leveraged to build trust amongst your potential clients and that’s exactly what I want to help you with today.

My friend Tom Lambotte is hosting a free class on Thursday, December 17th, 2020 at 11am PST / 2pm EST called:

💥 The 7 Cybersecurity Threats That Could Endanger
Your Law Firm In 2021…And How To Prevent Them 💥

You can click HERE to register.

Tom has built the top boutique IT company (GlobalMac IT) in the legal space, with clients including Cooper, Adel, Vu & Associates LPA, The Stevens Firm, PA, Eltringham Law Group, Bick Law LLP, the Law Office of Kenneth E. Berger, LLC and many more throughout the United States and across all practice areas!

He’s going to share real-life examples of the biggest areas where lawyers go wrong with their security measures, and what to do to properly protect your practice and put solutions into place while making sure it doesn’t require hours upon hours of time taking your FOCUS away from your most important work.

Join him at the free Security Class on December 17th, 2020, where, after attending, you’ll know:

⭐ What are 2021’s Seven top cybersecurity threats you (solo and small law firms) are most vulnerable to?

⭐ Why are you a “sitting duck” for losing EVERYTHING in your bank account in an instant? (and why your bank is NOT responsible for getting your money back)

⭐ How these SIMPLE protections and precautions can drastically reduce your chances of being a victim?

⭐ What are the best-in-class security protocols to protect your law firm from a data breach?

⭐ Why you must abandon the false belief ‘that can never happen to me.’

Click HERE to register (spots are limited).

Your Options for Running a Mac-Based Law Firm: Managed Services

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Security, Software, Technology

The following Guest Post is from technology guru, Tom Lambotte from GlobalMac IT:

Managed Services is the opposite of the reactive, hourly model. The biggest benefit is being able to budget IT costs and shifting the support approach from reactive to proactive. The majority of Managed Service offerings are offered in a tiered model, such as Bronze, Silver or Gold. Bronze, for example, provides only phone support, with Silver providing slightly more, etc.

My company ceased providing hourly support when I realized the business model I built the company on (hourly support) was a break/fix model with many flaws. I would set up my clients or resolve their issues and then say, “call me when you need me.” I prided myself on my ability to resolve issues promptly and enjoyed working with my clients. However, there was always a subconscious voice in my head telling me I could prevent many of the reactive issues coming I dealt with. There had to be a better way. When I discovered the Managed Services model, I embraced it fully and we haven’t looked back.

Law firms using Managed Services benefit from fewer problems, less downtime and far less unexpected issues. This pro-active approach takes the role of managing IT out of the firm and puts it into the hands of experts. At least that is the promise of Managed Service providers. Like any business, whether they deliver is another story. You must do your due diligence in choosing an IT company. (Access our whitepaper “What Every Attorney Must Know About Hiring An Honest, Competent, Responsive And Fairly Priced Apple Consultant” at www.globalmacit.com/legalreport)

Managed Services provide a dramatic improvement over the options of DIY and hourly support. However, as our experience grew working with Managed Services, we saw some shortcomings with the tiered model of Managed Services. These insights led to the evolution of our current services. The tiered model means some things are included and others are not. Items such as Project work, training, after hours or emergency support, setting up new staff members, office moves, on-site support, for example, are rarely included, and therefore billed hourly. I found this tiered model often made clients feel they were being nickel and dimed. The overall impact of this model ends up hurting your firm in several ways.

First, one of the big benefits of Managed Services is being able to budget your IT costs. But if project work is not included, how can you budget accurately? The biggest problem this leads to is the delay of important projects that would be beneficial to the firm. Because the cost is not in the budget, projects that are important but not urgent are often pushed off and delayed. This impacts the firm’s profits, assuming the new solution would have addressed a bottleneck in the firm or boosted productivity in some way. For example, we have seen many firms fail when trying to roll out technical solutions on their own. The data is often neither migrated not configured properly, and they don’t provide proper training. Ultimately, the staff does not buy into the solution and it fails after the firm spent a LOT of money trying to get it off the ground.

Not knowing the level of support will cover an issue may deter your staff from calling the IT company, because they don’t want to rack up additional bills for the firm. This leads to small issues developing into bigger issues.

A word of caution: Windows-based Managed Services Companies.

Managed Services in the Apple world is a fairly new model, with less than 100 all-Mac Managed Service Providers in the nation. This means many Mac-based law firms looking for a proactive support option often only come across Windows-based Managed Service Providers who claim they can support Macs.

The number ONE issue with most Windows-centric Managed Service Providers supporting Macs is that it is financially impossible for a Windows-shop to provide the same level of support to Macs as they do to PCs. They cannot justify spending the same amount of resources on training, tools and support for the 5-10% of their computers that are Macs. Because of this you will not receive the same caliber of support provided to their PC users. In the majority of cases, when they say they can support Macs, they have one person who’s the “Mac expert.” When that person is out of the office, Mac-using clients are out of luck.

Simply becoming Apple Certified does NOT make one an expert. It is a step in the right direction, however, there is still a long way to becoming proficient at supporting Macs. I have heard many stories where the client ended up knowing more about Macs than the support person they are speaking with! Talk about a horrible experience. If you are an all-Mac law firm, you need to do extra diligence if you are considering hiring on a Windows-centric IT company to support your firm. Not everyone out there is negligent in this area, but sadly I can say from experience that the majority are not able to fully support Macs.

A Managed Services has some flaws, it is a huge step forward in becoming proactive in managing your technology. Next month’s article will discuss the 4^th and final option, the unique offering version of Managed Services of my company, GlobalMac IT and how it is specialized for Mac-Based Law Firms.

Provided as an educational service by Tom Lambotte, President of GlobalMac IT

GlobalMac IT was founded by Tom Lambotte – renowned nationwide as an author, speaker, trusted IT advisor, and cutting edge, successful provider of the #1 complete end-to-end IT solution for Mac-Based Law Firms in the world. Private firms from throughout North America – and as far reaching as American Samoa – running with a staff of 5-50 – have relied on his expertise to help them put their IT headaches behind once and for all.

Using his real world experience, where results rule and dollars can’t be wasted on negligent computer consultants, he wanted to help managing partners and office managers of Mac-based law firms to put an end to wasting their time and money on IT support that does not work and rescue them from the frustration.

Our unique “TotalCare” approach integrates classic IT support with proven proactive support that truly converts IT from something to be dealt with, into a tool that truly increases law firm profits, increases staff productivity, and provides piece of mind that firm and client data is secure and that their security is never at risk. You can reach GlobalMac IT at (440) 941-1622 to request more information.

Free Security Webinar

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Ben Stevens Posted in Online Resources, Security, Technology

Are you a Mac-using attorney? Do you know about all the new threats to your data? Do firewalls and antivirus software merely give you a false sense of security? Are you or your firm a “sitting duck” at risk of losing everything in your bank account in an instant… not to mention the insult to injury of government fines and penalties for non-compliance to data breach laws.

Does that get your attention? Well, the good news is that there are some simple protections and precautions you can put in place to drastically reduce your chances of being a victim. Tech expert Tom Lambotte of GlobalMacIT will present a free security webinar, “7 Critical IT Security Protections EVERY Mac-Based Law Firm Must Have In Place NOW To Avoid Cyber-Attacks, Data Breach Lawsuits, Bank Fraud and Compliance Penalties” on Thursday, April 28, 2016, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST.

You can get more details and register for this webinar here. I hope to see you there.

Making Contact Safely: An Online Marketer’s Cybersecurity Checklist

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Security

The following Guest Post is from Cassie Phillips:

Online marketing is a wild rat race of information gathering and analytics. We compile data, we send emails, we look at SEO figures — all in our feeble attempts to slowly climb in page rank and reach as many readers as possible. It’s always an uphill battle, and the challenges aren’t just linked with getting the edge over your competition.

Reaching out and networking with other sites to build your link profile is a long, tedious process, and one that is fraught with its own complications. There’s a lot to be said for having an efficient process for your outreach, but there are also some things to consider on the cybersecurity side of things.

Before you dive too deep into the far corners of the internet in search of leads and your next leg up on the competition, run through this checklist, and make sure you’re not setting yourself up to be the next hack-attack victim.

1. Don’t Throw Your Email Address Around

It should go without saying, but your email address as an online marketer is akin to your personal phone number. It’s not information that needs to be shared freely and publicly, particularly if you’re using it for business purposes. If you do need to have an email address on your site, make sure you use a separate, secure account for that purpose alone.

Not only does having your email address publicly available set you up for the predictable storm of spam, but it also invites a lot of speculation about your accounts and how that information can be used by people other than yourself. Be particularly cautious about daisy-chaining accounts together. Make sure that a hacker can’t get access to one by infiltrating another.

2. Be Wary of Phishing Attempts

Working in this industry, your inbox no doubt fills daily with correspondences from other sites, people offering services, software companies. There’s a lot to sift through, and sometimes it’s hard to make yourself take the necessary precautions to ensure it’s all legitimate.

However, email phishing is extremely common and getting more sophisticated all the time. Make sure you’re using anti-virus software that scans webmail, and never follow links in an email. Oftentimes, they lead to fake forms designed to trick you into giving up login information. Always type the URL into your browser yourself.

3. Let Your Anti-virus Software Do Its Job

Speaking of email scams, it’s also important to remember that some hackers don’t want to steal your information at all. They just want to trick you into downloading malware. It should be second nature to take these kinds of precautions, but in case it’s not, make sure your anti-virus software is looking out for you by scanning any attachments that come through your email.

Some webmail services can identify suspected malware in an email, but it’s best to only download attachments from trusted contacts. Also be aware that many times these downloads are actually hiding in what appear to be hyperlinks. When you go to click a link, it could inadvertently start an automatic download. Always hover over a link before clicking to make sure the destination is the same as the link text.

4. Practice Commonsense Network Security

Despite the numerous warnings of the dangers of public and unsecured WiFi networks, a surprising number of people still use these networks without any kind of protection to conduct important business. Your website is your reputation, and you are ultimately responsible for securing that data and protecting your customers’ personal information.

It’s fine to use a public network, but take some basic precautions first. Disable settings on your device such as “Network Discovery” and “Public File Sharing”, which allow other network users to spot your device and check out your public folders, respectively.

These are only measures to protect your device from basic privacy breaches though. To ensure your data isn’t intercepted, you need to take things a step further and encrypt your connection. The easiest way to do this is to install a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on your device. When you connect through a VPN, your data is fully encrypted and secure from hackers.

5. Secure All of Your Accounts with Solid Passwords

Those of us in the business of promoting content often use an arsenal of tools to get the job done, and many of those require logins and provide us with intimate looks at our site’s performance. Think of all the sites and services you log into in a day—maybe it’s your email, AdWords, WordPress, Ahrefs, Paypal. How many accounts do you work with on a daily basis? How secure are they?

One of the biggest problems with account security for people managing online businesses is that they have so many passwords and logins to remember, they often recycle that same information over and over again. This means that if a hacker gets ahold of one password, they effectively have every password, and everything you have has become compromised in one fell swoop.

Always use a unique password, and never count on just security questions alone to protect your account. Many hackers use social engineering to get this information and use the “forgotten password” loophole to infiltrate accounts. If possible, use another means of password recovery, and never give this basic personal information out to anyone you don’t know.

If you have a hard time remembering passwords and are a little frustrated by having to keep track of so many, there are secure, reliable password management systems out there designed for people just like you. Using one secure master password, your login information is automatically stored and entered, so you can make passwords as random and secure as you want.

You Are Liable for the Security of Your Site

The bottom line is, even if you have the mentality of ‘it’ll never happen to me’, hacks happen to the majority of users, and at some point or another, it’s incredibly likely you’ll be hacked. If your site is responsible for processing payments or stores any information of any kind for customers or readers, you have a legal responsibility to make sure you’re taking adequate security measures.

As cybercrime continues to push the envelope and evolve, business owners are being held to higher standards by courts, and those with lax security practices can actually be found partially responsible for data breaches in which their users’ data is stolen. This was a hot topic during the Ashley Madison hacks of last year, in which the hackers reported that it was as if the site “wasn’t even trying” to keep their customers’ information private.

Don’t set yourself up for a reputation-destroying legal mess. Take basic security measures now to avoid headaches down the line, and get serious about incorporating common sense security practices into your marketing routine.

About the Author: Cassie Phillips is a writer and researcher for cybersecurity site Secure Thoughts, where she puts important information on online privacy and security in terms the everyday user can understand. She frequently posts about privacy software and ways internet users can protect themselves.

Cassie wrote, “I’d just like to thank Mac Lawyer for publishing this post on their site. This blog brings a brilliant perspective on the changing climate of cyber security and online privacy to legal professionals, and provides some great food for thought.“

Big Brother or Just Good Business?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Security, Technology

The following Guest Post is from Tom Lambotte from GlobalMac IT:

Imagine you decide to check one of your employees’ history on their browsers one day. The most recent 30 stops were at Facebook, Pinterest, Match.com and Amazon. Let’s assume there had been previous incidents of on-the-job theft, how would respond? Theft you say!? Yes, it’s theft and it’s rampant and epic. It’s time theft, which you need to look at exactly the same way as any other kind of stealing in your firm.

“But we are a small law firm and I trust everyone, this surely isn’t happening in my firm?” Everyone wants to think that, but the hard truth is that this goes on, way more than you would ever think. And I you don’t have a system in place to monitor it, you are an ostrich with it’s head stuck in the sand.

When you pay an employee a set wage in exchange for a set amount of work, lets say a 40 hour work week, did you ever agree that they only have to actually work 30 or 35 hours and can goof off the rest o the time? Should you be paying them for checking their Yahoo and Gmail email accounts, Facebook or browsing on Amazon while at work?

A very common thing I have seen, in small firms and mid-sized firms alike (and a mid-size firm in our books is a firm with 25 -50 users) is they ‘trust’ everyone on their staff. I don’t question trust, but I do question focus and output. As I’ve repeated time and time again, on average, 45.03% of your revenues go towards payroll. Legal services has the the 4th highest percentage of revenues going to payroll in the nation. You need to do everything you can to ensure that your staff is as productive as possible.

Browsing that is NOT related to work is theft. I know how extreme that sounds and I used to be on your side as well. I’m a laid-back, highly trusting, organic-eating eating, hippie from the 90s (funny I know). I trust and love people. But I have seen an overwhelming amount of data that shows, consistently, that this is going, unchecked on in every firm. The truth is, online communities like Facebook and commerce giants from Amazon to eBay would lose a tremendous amount of business if it were not for all the daytime use by employees at work, effectively stealing from their employers while playing on the internet. If their attention is going towards non work-related things, they are NOT working. Make no mistake: While the cat’s not watching, the mice are at play at these websites, playing computer games, doing their personal banking online, sending email greeting cards, text-messaging friends, watching movies, while your law practices phones go unanswered, your clients get treated as annoying interruptions and paperwork gets hidden and buried. I know how extreme this viewpoint is, but please hang with me.

On average, research shows that it takes 23 minutes to get back to the previous task at hand every time you are interrupted. Have you even peeked at Facebook for only a minute because there was a notification and before you know it, 11 minutes later you break the death-grip of Facebook, pop back out into the world, left to wonder what the heck just happened? If you know what I’m talking about here, imagine your staff doing this every day on your dime.

We recently added Content Monitoring and Filtering, Umbrella by OpenDNS, as a new service included in our offering and have been setting up all our existing clients on this. After monitoring only for a month, the data is far worse than I expected. Internally, I can confidently say that every one of our employees does the work of 3 regular employees. They are true A players, I trust them 100%. Even then, I saw a good chunk of Facebook usage, Amazon, Zulily, Etsy, Tumbler blog sites and yes, even a little bit of ‘inappropriate content.’

The results have been extremely similar at every law firm we have deployed this at so far. So back to the example of my staff, after monitoring traffic for a month, we implemented content filtering, blocking certain categories and types of content from being visited while at work. I setup a bypass code for WORK and for BREAKS, so that if a site is blocked but should not be, they can easily bypass it. If they are on a break they can go to Facebook, or Zulily or Amazon. All these exceptions are tracked, by user, so I can easily go back and review the exceptions if needed.

I suggest you work on creating a “productivity-only” workplace,” with distractions removed. The less distractions your team has, the more productive they will be. In terms of the Big Brother mindset and fear, the truth is, in the workplace, people need to grasp that they are there to work; they have no right to expect privacy. Whatever they’re doing is your business as long as they are doing it at your business on your business’s clock.

Idle browsing is like a dripping faucet that’s always on, however, labor is quite a bit more expensive than water. That water drip, according to a report by Salary.com, adds up to over $750 billion (that’s billion with a b) that American companies spend paying people for work they’re not doing. In the workplace, Big Brother has to watch. The cat must never be away.

Our service for Mac-based law firms includes content monitoring and filtering. We implement Acceptable Use Policies for our clients and their staff and then install, configure and maintain their content filtering to reduce the amount of time spent at work NOT working.

I highly recommend that if you don’t currently have this in place in your firm, you reach out to your IT guy and demand they implement this. If they can’t do it, find a competent IT firm that can. And if you’re a Mac-based law firm, call us, you won’t find anyone better at supporting Mac-based law firms, since that’s the ONLY thing we do! Happy browsing.

Provided as an educational service by Tom Lambotte, President of GlobalMac IT

Is Siri Inviting Hackers into Your iPhone?

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in iPhone, Security, Siri, Technology

The following Guest Post was submitted by one of my readers, Robert Widner, a family law attorney in Dallas, Texas:

Siri makes a fantastic personal assistant. She can help you navigate your phone, manage your calendar, answer your questions, and can even tell a great bedtime story if you ask her nicely. She’s become so helpful, hackers now say she’ll roll out the welcome mat for anyone under the right circumstances. The Network and Information Security Agency (ANSSI) from France uncovered this nasty little glitch, and they’ve proven that Siri will respond to silent commands from anyone within a 16-foot radius.

Hackers Can Send Siri Messages via Electromagnetic Waves

It requires a bit of finesse to pull the trick off, but researchers (aka professional hackers working for the French government), have discovered a way to silently talk to iOS and Android digital assistants. It turns out that headphones with an integrated microphone work as an antenna can pull in electromagnetic waves, which are then converted into electrical signals that the digital assistant recognizes as sound. Quite simply, standard Apple earbuds plugged into your iPhone, are all a hacker needs to send silent voice commands to your phone.

Once Inside, Hackers Can Do Just About Anything

In all fairness, it’s easy to see the hackers in action, just by watching your screen. However, many of us stash our phones in briefcases during meetings, or place the device upside down on a table during a discussion. In a public place, such as a restaurant, or even a courtroom, hackers can easily search for available mobile devices to connect with. Dozens of people in any given space could be vulnerable to attack. Hackers can gain access to contact lists, send texts, make calls, compose emails, or even open up websites with malicious codes and viruses. Realistically, anything that can be done using the digital assistant can be done by hackers, in total silence, from as much as 16 feet away.

The Equipment Needed Can Be Discreetly Hidden

Last summer, the research was presented at the Hack in Paris conference, though it received almost no press. Very little equipment is needed for hackers to pull the trick off, and it can be discreetly concealed. This makes it difficult to tell who the culprit is, even if you detect that your phone is being hacked while someone is actively accessing it just a few feet away. A laptop with GNU Radio, an open-source software, and a USRP software-defined radio, combined with an antenna and amplifier, are all that’s needed to access someone’s phone. If the hackers can get within 16 feet of you, the equipment can fit inside a backpack. However, researchers have noted that the distance can be much greater with an equipment upgrade. Though it would be more difficult to obscure, it’s plausible that hackers could sit in a vehicle outside a restaurant or other venue, prying into the phones of diners.

Apple has Been Notified, But there’s No Fix Yet

Researchers notified Apple and Google, and also gave the companies suggestions on ways to correct defect. They recommended better shielding within headphones, or perhaps software upgrades with the option for people to create customized code words to wake digital assistants. Voice recognition could also thwart would-be hackers. While the obvious temporary fix seems to be to turn off the digital assistant when not in use, researchers noted that many headphones have a button that turns the service back on. This, too, could be easily manipulated with electrical pulses. Until the companies respond with a real repair, the only way to protect phones and their data is to remove the headphones from the jack when they’re not being used.

It was only a few weeks ago that another Siri exploit was detected. Anyone could access the contacts and photos on an Apple device by waking Siri up after a few incorrect passcode attempts, using the clock app, and sharing. From the messaging app, the contacts could be searched, or a photo could be shared, allowing anyone free access to view all the stored photos in less than 30 seconds. When Apple heard about this, they corrected it right away, so iPhones, iPods, and iPads running iOS 9.0.1 are safe. However, the number of vulnerabilities being seen in digital assistants is cause for concern. For now, the safest thing might be to go sans headphones, and turn these helpful assistants off, to stop them from being helpful to hackers.

About the Author: Robert Widner is a family law attorney based out of Dallas Texas with over 16 years experience.

How to Spot a Fake iPhone

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in How Do I ...?, iPhone, Security 3 Comments

Did you know that fake iPhones are a growing problem? 40,000 counterfeit iPhones were recently seized in China, and people have been caught selling them in Maryland and California. Counterfeit consumer electronics were the second-most-seized commodity in 2013 and 2014, with an estimated retail price of approximately $150 million – and those are just the ones that were caught!

Do you know how to spot a fake iPhone? It’s not as easy as you might think, and to make it worse they come in two varieties: Frankenphones, which contain real Apple parts and run iOS but were assembled from smuggled or recycled phones, and Android phones that are disguised and passed off as iPhones. The following tips may help you detect the fakes and protect yourself and your wallet:

Frankenphones may look legit, but their software will probably seem sluggish, because their motherboards are from older models;
The IMEI numbers on Frankenphones probably won’t match. The number engraved in tiny print just under the logo on the back of an iPhone 6 should always match the one found at Settings > General > About.
To detect an Android in disguise, try to invoke Siri by pressing the Home button. If she doesn’t answer, you’ve got a problem.
You can also look at the icons to help determine if it’s an Android. For instance, if a Google Play app is visible or if the App Store doesn’t go to Apple’s App Store, it’s not an iPhone.
You can also detect an Android by copying the serial number in Settings (just above the IMEI described above) and pasting it in Apple’s online warranty checker. Unless the information matches, you’ve got a problem.

The article linked below contains some additional warning signs, and you should check it out before you decide to make a purchase. When all else fails, remember the old adage that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Source: “Too Good to Be True: How to Spot a Fake iPhone” by Wayne Rash, published at Yahoo Tech.

“The Pillars of Digital Security” for Lawyers

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Office Management, Security, Technology

I believe that attorneys can never learn too much about ethics, technology, or the intersection of the two. If you follow this subject closely, you will know that there is not a consensus of opinion when it comes to topics like Dropbox, Evernote, iCloud, Facebook, email, smartphones, and iPads.

Philippe Doyle Gray, a Barrister in New South Wales, Australia, and frequent speaker at the ABA TECHSHOW, has written a paper, “The Pillars of Digital Security“, which he says synthesizes disparate sources from around the world into a statement of principles that reflect an international consensus amongst lawyers and computer scientists about fundamental safeguards for lawyers’ use of technology.

Philippe’s paper provides a vocabulary for lawyers who know little about technology, and it aims to provide a universal approach to issues of ethics and malpractice, regardless of the operating system, device, or particular technology. His formulation links (1) key terms of the American Bar Association’s model rules of professional conduct, (2) the way in which computing devices work, and (3) the way in which lawyers practice their profession.

You can read more about Philippe’s thought on this subject in his article and/or download his paper here. Thanks to Philippe for his work in writing this paper, alerting me to it, and allowing me to share it with my readers.

Source: “The Pillars of Digital Security” by Philippe Doyle Gray.

Free Webinar: IT Security Protections Every Law Firm Must Have in Place Now

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Ben Stevens Posted in Did You Know?, Online Resources, Security 1 Comment

This Thursday, June 18th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, my friend and colleague Tom Lambotte, CEO of GlobalMac IT, is presenting an invitation-only, executive webinar, during which he will share some alarming news about new cybersecurity threats that you should protect your firm against – and the best ways to protect yourself and your practice.

Chances are that you are not aware of these new threats and therefore may be a “sitting duck” and at risk of losing everything in your bank account in an instant – not to mention the potential added insult to injury of government fines and penalties for non-compliance to data breach laws.

Although Tom has limited attendance to only 50 people, I have made arrangements to reserve a block for my readers and followers readers to get a VIP seat. You can get the full details (and register) for “7 Critical IT Security Protections EVERY Law Firm Must Have In Place NOW To Avoid Cyber-Attacks, Data Breach Lawsuits, Bank Fraud and Compliance Penalties” here.